I see a problem in tying in a now purchase of a ‘lesser’ wine to secure the gem later. Seems like a repackaged hostage scenario. I have dumped lists for less. sorry, it’s how I feel.
disclaimer: I don’t mean lesser as in inferior. Marlene wants Rhys. She signed up for…Rhys.
Though I liked some of the early Alesias (e.g., Green Valley) very, very much I generally agree with that. I haven’t had any of the newer versions so I can’t comment on them, from other people’s reports they seem to be a step up from most of the earlier ones.
But do Alesia purchases count toward “Rhys points?” I seem to recall Kevin saying previously that this was not the case.
Had it been worded “Please feel free to enjoy Alesia this time around as your spot for Rhys is guaranteed on next offering regardless of…” I would feel better.
“All wait list members purchasing Alesia during this release will receive an offer of Rhys wine in our next release, securing a spot on our Rhys mailing list.”
Gotcha. Interesting. So, a purchase gets you in the door but doesn’t add to your “points.”
I’m surprised this was brought back as well. They should separate it from the Rhys operation.
Why? it’s already clearly marked as being distinct. It doesn’t count towards points allocation but they’re allowing people who buy it a foot in the door for a guaranteed Rhys allocation.
As I understand it, ransom wines are commonplace these days. If it’s no good, the winery would ultimately suffer from lack of repeat business…
What would that mean, Markus? Build a separate winery for Alesia? It is already a separate label. According to Kevin Harvey, Alesia is produced specifically to utilize winery capacity when estate yields are low, and while waiting for recent plantings to come onstream. So a separate winery would make no sense. Nobody is being forced to buy Alesia, but I think it is clear that there is no intention to build Alesia into a stand alone operation. If someone doesn’t want to buy Alesia, they can remain on the waitlist a bit longer (same as if the Alesia option did not exist).
I don’t know. Somehow I feel the Alesia is a distraction, a good product, but not the stated purpose of the Rhys project. Of course, I am sure it helps with the cash flow!
The opposite of “hostage scenario” is “cherry picking.” Do you think it is wrong for a winery to offer the limited production cherries to established good customers? Should those cherries be reserved just for new customers fresh off the waiting list instead? Or perhaps a lottery?
^^ This.
From personal experience I received an Alesia offer a year or so ago and passed on it since I had already blown my wine budget by late spring, I believe it was the following fall that I made it on to the Rhys list. I am sure it was due to my position on the wait list that I was on the next fall, I would imagine that in some cases it may take longer. That being said I don’t think it is any sort of hostage situation, it is simply an offer, take it or leave it.
I am hardly an afficionado and very recent to the Rhys list. I bought the first Alesia offered to me and found, for the price, it gave me just what I wanted: something made in a style I liked that I could drink now, if I wanted, while waiting for Rhys to come around. I didn’t buy any this spring because I wanted to spend my wine money on other things. And i can see passing them by. But, thinking of them s Pinots and Syrahs from CA in a more Old World style, I think they are decent values.
I don’t get what the original poster found offensive in the message. I could see not liking being told that if you want to get on the Rhys list faster, you should buy this. But that’s not really very different from being offered more Rhys every time one buys more Rhys. Those guys have to make a living too.
If the whole Rhys lineup is limited, then your point is valid. if entry level stuff is sold alongside highly allocated stuff than it’s up up to the winery to place <0> in the Your Allocation spot for that wine. get on the list first and see what irons out, then your own purchasing history will drive it.
I’m saving my money for the Alpine Chard. If the '13 is half as good as the '12… 
It’s very good. If you like a richer style, the '10 is great too. We just had these three and their Horseshoe counterparts in a single flight at the winery.
I would like to clarify a few things around Alesia.
You do not need to buy Alesia in order to be offered Rhys. However, it might accelerate the time frame for a Rhys offering. This is because we feel that someone buying Alesia should be offered Rhys at the next release. Meanwhile when we have enough wine, Rhys will be offered to the waitlist members whether they buy Alesia or not.
As far as Alesia goes, we made it from 2011 to 2013 but did not make any in 2014 (and do not intend to make in 2015).
I have mixed emotions about continuing Alesia. Some customers would rather save their dollars for Rhys while others really want a lower priced, more everyday offering from us. Personally, I feel the 2012 and 2013 Alesia wines are terrific and I have opened 3-4x more bottles of them compared to our Rhys bottlings so maybe I fall in the latter category. An additional benefit of Alesia is that it allows us to explore new terroirs. But even given those reasons, we have decided to have Alesia go dormant again given our increasing production of estate fruit. I realize this is not crisp business thinking on our part but that is the current state of our Alesia effort.
I guess I will never understand people. I would look at that email as a way I could get on the list earlier if I wanted, or I could simply ignore it.
As for discontinuing alesia, that makes me very sad. The wines I have purchased have all been excellent values. I am kicking myself for not buying a case of the syrah earlier this year. I buy both Rhys and Alesia.
Each to their own and all, but I dont see anything wrong with the OP email.
The only one I have ever received that bothered me (and bothered is a strong term) was getting on the Kosta brown list and being told I needed to buy x or I would not be offered x next year. I simply said no thanks and moved on to another winery.
+1 here. I have GREATLY enjoyed some of the Rhys wines I’ve tried, and none of the Alesia bottlings have done it for me at all. Still, if I hadn’t tried the wines and wanted to get on the list, I’d jump at the chance to buy a few bottles of Alesia and secure some Rhys for the following vintage.
The 2012 and 2013 Alesia bottlings are quite a bit different than most of the bottlings from 2003-2008. I think most people who like the recent vintages of Rhys would also like Alesia, they are stylistically quite similar (and quite reasonably priced).
-Al